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2010-2011 Football Thread

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Meanwhile, the Premier League has announced a step-up of the 'Respect' campaign and will be cracking down on the poor behaviour shown by managers and players alike. Trying to get opponents booked, surrounding the referee to try and intimidate him into giving a decision – these are the sort of things that are going to be eradicated from the game.

Nice try, Premier League – I know what the date is. You can't fool me. ;)
 
The date also had me wondering about a sensationalist bit of sloppy journalism by the BBC who claim the Rangers could go bust (but it you actually read the article it explains that they probably won't and it would need a lot of things to go against them and besides the Whyte guy is going to complete the takeover of them next week but let's not stop that from getting in the way of a good headline)

The thing that actually bothered me was Bosnia being suspended by UEFA/FIFA for having 3 football presidents. Due to the ethnic difficulties of the region, they have a rotating presidency, one from each of the ethnic background to ensure impartiality, which is rather sensible. But it's FIFA/UEFA's policy to stamp down on sensible ideas.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Nice try, Premier League – I know what the date is. You can't fool me. ;)
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I think it was deliberate, in order to give them plausable deniability when the respect effort fails with a whimper because Fergie disrespects it.

Fuzzy14 said:
The thing that actually bothered me was Bosnia being suspended by UEFA/FIFA for having 3 football presidents. Due to the ethnic difficulties of the region, they have a rotating presidency, one from each of the ethnic background to ensure impartiality, which is rather sensible. But it's FIFA/UEFA's policy to stamp down on sensible ideas.
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I'm of two minds on it. On the one hand, I do think that FIFA is being heavy-handed, as usual. But on the other I feel that if Bosnia has to have three of everything because none of the ethnicities can interact successfully, they have fundamental political issues still to resolve and having three presidents is a clumsy bandage over a wounud that still needs proper treatment.

I have more sympathy with Bosnia's position than FIFA though. FIFA's organization makes politics in the Balkans look positively fair. :rolleyes:
 
Vidic shouldn't be on the pitch and no way is that a penalty. Utd yet again given a helping hand.
 
daneoni said:
Vidic shouldn't be on the pitch and no way is that a penalty. Utd yet again given a helping hand.
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What? do you even know what your talking about? it wasn't a goal scoring opportunity, yes he was last man so he got booked, yellow card. It was the right decision. I'm sick of non-united fans blaming everything on United; just because we are better.

Anyway, hope the arse-nal loose or draw today, Chelsea are out of it :D and so are Liverpool's chances of CL football next season :D
 
Sure. I bet you're also gonna tell me the handball was the right decision too.

PS...

garybUK said:
Anyway, hope the arse-nal loose or draw today, Chelsea are out of it :D and so are Liverpool's chances of CL football next season :D
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Congrats...you got your wish.
 
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In better news (for me anyway). Columbus got their first league win last night (2-0 against Dallas), scoring our first goal from open play in the process. We are now 1-1-1. Not a convincing performance, but we created quite a few chances even before Dallas deservedly went down to 10 men. We are very much a work in progress though, and the players need to play better as a team.

I really don't want to talk about English football today. Somebody call me when Fergie retires. :(
 
In other football-related news, regular readers may recall discussion of the Michael Jackson statue that was to be erected at Fulham's Craven Cottage – for no other reason than that he was a chum of their owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Well, the eagerly anticipated unveiling took place earlier today ahead of Fulham's match against Blackpool, and here's the statue in all it's glory...

article-1372878-0B7675A100000578-240_306x423.jpg

Heh. :D

Now, this could have been a PR disaster – but luckily Al Fayed himself was on hand to answer the complaints of disgruntled fans...

'If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift they can go to hell.

'I don't want them to be fans. If they don't understand and don't believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else.'

Shamon.
 
daneoni said:
Vidic shouldn't be on the pitch and no way is that a penalty. Utd yet again given a helping hand.
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Agree about the penalty; the foot Vidic used falls backward on to the line, contact was outside the box.:) The booking he got was from a 50:50 tussle and neither party could get to the ball before PIG, Lee Mason shouldn't have booked him - let the keeper kick it and have a word with Vidic and the West Ham United player. Re the referee as a whole, he favoured West Ham United more. As for the Upson penalty, sometimes given, sometimes not - not Manchester United specific. Looking at the game at the Emirates some might have seen a bias in the latter stages; of note is Arsenal playing on when Wilshere is injured, compared to the referee stopping play when Song clearly did not have a head injury - Blackburn Rovers had the ball, the player was travelling at speed, and the Arsenal defence was split.

---

David Pleat wasn't happy about the Michael Jackson statue, perhaps a lady of the night instead? Stuff and nonsense.

Rooney and the FA - the FA and BBC can F:eek:ck Off.

Cheers,
OW
 
Jaffa Cake said:
In other football-related news, regular readers may recall discussion of the Michael Jackson statue that was to be erected at Fulham's Craven Cottage – for no other reason than that he was a chum of their owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Well, the eagerly anticipated unveiling took place earlier today ahead of Fulham's match against Blackpool, and here's the statue in all it's glory...
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No doubt this inspired the team to a 3-0 victory. That, and a leaky Blackpool defense that gave up 2 of the goals on set plays.
 
Ex-Hull City striker Caleb Folan has been in luck at his new MLS club, Colorado Rapids. First-choice lumbering hulk striker Conor Casey is out with a hamstring injury, giving Folan the chance to bag a brace.
 
I know, I had an embarrassed chuckle over the effusive praise. :eek:

In defense of the MLS, I have to say that the quality of play in the league is significantly better than the quality of the referreeing and media coverage. Many of the journos who "cover" MLS must be blind or know nothing about football. A weakly dribbled penalty becomes "confidently dispatched". A defender, short on pace, who is forced to lunge wildly during a matched after being repeatedly burned is said to put in a "solid performance in defense". And so forth. It literally sounds like they are using boilerplate match report forms and just filling in the names. :rolleyes:

Anybody else hear of the documentary about USA international and Ex-Watford defender Jay DeMerit? It's a pretty neat rags-to-riches story. Filmed on an absolute shoestring, they don't even have enough money to pay for the rights on them game footage used in the film.
 
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oscillatewildly said:
Rooney,

Next time you score, please run to the camera and announce your retirement from international football.

C:mad:nts
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Two match ban for swearing? ******* me!

To compare to golf (which is generally thought of a more gentlemanly sport) Tiger Woods gets fined nearly every game due to slips of the verbose (it's rumoured he has a Direct Debit set up each month.) He doesn't do it any more than any other golfer but the spotlight is more on him. I guess it's one of the hazards of being a leading light, and Rooney has to take note. But surely a fine would be enough?:confused:
 
It's hard to have sympathy for either side - the FA are terribly inconsistent when it comes to applying the rules, and Rooney is a huge eejit for cursing directly into the camera like that. What's he so angry about anyway?

The FA should give Rooney a 2 match ban for swearing at the camera, and then give themselves a 2 match ban for being generally useless.

...unless Rooney can prove that he can don and remove a training bib all by himself, in which case the ban should be reduced to one match ;)
 
Fuzzy14 said:
Two match ban for swearing? ******* me!

To compare to golf (which is generally thought of a more gentlemanly sport) Tiger Woods gets fined nearly every game due to slips of the verbose (it's rumoured he has a Direct Debit set up each month.) He doesn't do it any more than any other golfer but the spotlight is more on him. I guess it's one of the hazards of being a leading light, and Rooney has to take note. But surely a fine would be enough?:confused:
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First let me apologise for my language, I saw the keyboard and got caught up in the heat of the moment.

Fuzzy, are you sure swearing goes on in other sports? It's not how the media are telling it.:rolleyes: Fine Rooney two weeks wages - half to a football project in Manchester and the other half to one in London, none to the FA - and add a two game suspended ban. If they ban him now, zero tolerance re swearing at referees has to start immediately - no bad thing, but will the refs wuss out again?

As for Redknapp's comments, he can Wii off.;)

Cheers,
OW
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Fortunately, they don't fine fans for hurling obscenities at the players. if this was the case, Mrs Cake would be seriously out of pocket.:D
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Lady Blackadder has taken well to football though she is not yet a serious fan of the game. But she's coming around. The other day I had a Serie A match on and she actually shouted angrily at the TV after seeing a clumsy dive. :)

oscillatewildly said:
Fuzzy, are you sure swearing goes on in other sports? It's not how the media are telling it.:rolleyes: Fine Rooney two weeks wages - half to a football project in Manchester and the other half to one in London, none to the FA - and add a two game suspended ban.
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Just think how many smaller clubs could be made financially solvent/saved from administration by the FA on two weeks of Rooney's wages. :eek:

oscillatewildly said:
If they ban him now, zero tolerance re swearing at referees has to start immediately - no bad thing, but will the refs wuss out again?
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I think players should be punished for what Rooney did, and a ban does not seem out of place. But, as you pointed out, the FA is never consistent with its punishments. So in the end everybody fails. In Rooney's case it was such a flagrant offense that they really had no choice but to throw the book at him, but that doesn't mean it's completely fair.

I personally think that a rule should be implemented whereby players may only approach/speak to the ref if spoken to, except for the captains. That would eliminate the travesty of players surrounding the ref and shouting at him.
 
I want to laugh at Spurs but i can't help but sympathise with their plight.

Shalke also looking to be quite a team after destroying Inter with 5 away goals. Lethal.
 
in a game of epic proportions Inter loses 2 -5 against schalke at home. :eek:
and that after Inter taking the lead 30 seconds in with a 50 meter shot (!)

and from the second half they can even be considered lucky to get away with conceding 5

that means Inter has to win in Gelsenkirchen 4:0 to reach the semi finals
 
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Wow, Inter was just plain dreadful. No Samuel or Lucio in central defense, no chance.

And Spurs: deary, deary me. Can't compete against a squad like Real Madrid when you've got guys having shocking matches (Modric, Gomes, Crouch), key guys who are only half-fit (VDV, Bale), and you're getting your tactics all wrong.
 
Silencio said:
And Spurs: deary, deary me. Can't compete against a squad like Real Madrid when you've got guys having shocking matches (Modric, Gomes, Crouch), key guys who are only half-fit (VDV, Bale), and you're getting your tactics all wrong.
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The red card ruined the match as a competition pretty early on, there was no way Spurs were going to bounce back from that. Mourinho's only chance of winning something is the CL, so he's putting the hammer down. Spurs are finished - but it was an impressive European run all the same - probably the most exciting team in the Champions League this season if by no means the best. I'd rather see Spurs in the CL next season than insipid Man City.

I'm not shocked that Inter lost, but I am shocked at the fact that they were blown away so badly, and by Schalke! Xabi Alonso-esque goal by Stankovic though. :D

I expect tomorrow's games to be tighter. Barca should emerge clear winner over Shaktar but the English tie may be very tight through both legs.
 
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Well that was sucky. :eek:

Quite a run though. No complaints about that.

Harry should rest the first team in the second leg. Spurs still have to play Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool in the EPL and need to make up six points on Chelsea to make next year's CL. It's a tall order.
 
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